Michael Weiss is looking to provide consistency and stability when he returns to the coaching helm of the Philippine men’s football team this year. The 58-year-old German said he would be leaning on his familiarity with the Azkals ahead of the World Cup/Asian Cup Qualifiers in November. “I think when a federation calls you back a second time, it can always be seen positively because you must have done something good in the past [even when] we had our ups and downs during my first stint,” said Weiss, who last coached the squad in 2014. So much has changed since he last coached the Azkals in 2014, but Weiss said he sees himself as a better tactician now. The German mentor is also banking on his experiences from his past coaching stints, including coaching national teams of Mongolia (2017-2020) and Laos (2020-2023). But while he was mentoring other squads, Weiss admitted he kept in touch with former and present members and staff of the PH squad. “When I left, I followed up. I suffered even when they didn’t make it to the Challenge Cup, in the Asian Cup. I was very happy to see the new players coming in, all the games. You can say that I’m familiar. The local staff helped me a lot, sir Dan also. So it will be comparatively easier,” Weiss said. However, he and the team are racing against time as the Pinoy booters plunge back into action in their back-to-back friendly matches against Nepal and Chinese Taipei on June 15 and 19, respectively, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Prior to Weiss’ signing with the team, the Azkals had three coaches for the past year alone. Thomas Dooley returned to post last year and coached the Azkals through the 2022 Asian Cup Qualifiers. Spaniard Josep Ferre was then named head coach of the Nationals for the AFF Mitsubishi Cup from December 2022 until January this year before Moroccan Barae Jrondi called the shots for their friendlies just last March.